Restoration of the historic Don Robinson home located in the Don Robinson State Park in Cedar Hill has been delayed by problems securing a masonry contractor, Missouri State Parks regional director Greg Combs said.
“We’ve had some challenges, some delays with the bidding of the masonry work,” Combs said. “We had to bid it twice, and just recently secured a contractor. This week, there’s a preconstruction meeting on the site with the new contractor.”
The late St. Louis-area businessman’s home is to be rebuilt as a three-season building to house informational exhibits at the park, but the project was stopped in its tracks when bidding for a masonry contractor took longer than expected, he said.
Combs said the restoration of the house’s ground-level stonework and the rebuilding of the second wooden level were intended to be completed by late summer of this fall. The project is now estimated to be finished by summer 2025.
Combs said the restoration project will cost $275,000.
Robinson, who died in 2012, bequeathed 843 acres of land he owned to the Missouri State Parks division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The donation included the land, his house and a trust fund to help maintain the area. The park, at 9275 Byrnesville Road, offers two hiking trails and a picnic area.
Combs said the house has deteriorated in the past 12 years.
“The house was in really poor shape,” he said last spring. “It was missing siding, the windows were leaking, the roof was leaking – just really, really bad shape. It was in such disrepair, and it was our assessment that it would have been too complicated to go through and make repairs to all the areas that needed repairs. We decided what made the most sense was to start over. Let’s build something that replicates what Don had here, but make sure it has a new roof, windows, and siding – not rotting material, but new material.”
Combs said the first part of the project, removing the rotting wooden second level, has already been completed by an in-house crew.
The second step, which requires contracted masons to complete tuckpointing, or replacing the mortar between the stones on the first level, is now expected to be completed this winter.
Then, in the final part of the project, the framing and carpentry for the second floor will be completed by the state park’s in-house construction crew by the coming summer.
“Our target (to finish the house) is the summer,” Combs said. “I’m going to call it my best guess. There are variables we have to juggle, wet weather being one of them. We’ve got to get the major stuff done first, and that will really serve as our kind of foundation of the new building, and then we’ll be able to get started.”
Once completed, the structure will hold information for park visitors and exhibits explaining the natural history of the area and Robinson’s cultural significance, Combs said.
According to the state park’s website, Robinson regularly appeared in late-night commercials for his cleaning product called “Off,” which he created in the 1950s.
Anyone interested in learning more about the old Don Robinson home refurbishment project is welcome to call the park office at 636-257-3788 or email Combs at greg.combs@dnr.mo.gov.
Combs said he understands why parkgoers may be frustrated or confused about why they are not seeing any construction on the home.
“Nothing happened because we ran into this bidding delay in awarding the contract,” he said. “There doesn’t appear to be anything going on (at the park) because of the minutiae of securing a contractor to do this work.”